Amazon RDS vs PlanetScale comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and PlanetScale are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.4, while PlanetScale is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.2. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 1.1% mindshare in SQL, compared to PlanetScale’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of PlanetScale users who would recommend it.

Amazon RDS

Read 58 Amazon RDS reviews

4,001 Views
840 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

PlanetScale

Read 6 PlanetScale reviews

522 Views
517 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon RDS

PlanetScale

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Amazon RDS and PlanetScale based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Relational Databases Tools solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon RDS vs. PlanetScale Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS vs. PlanetScale

March 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Amazon RDS

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

9th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Database as a Service (DBaaS) (2nd)

PlanetScale

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

17th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Amazon RDS is 1.1%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PlanetScale is 1.1%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Amazon RDS	1.1%
PlanetScale	1.1%
Other	97.8%

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

Baqir Sajjad

AWS Architect at Virtual University

Customer support and automated backups offer reliability while ease of deployment enhances user experience

The features of Amazon RDS that I have found most valuable include web and mobile applications, enterprise applications, data warehousing and analytics, and software as a service platforms, along with dev testing environments, disaster recoveries, and backups. The mobile app backend and development environment is also the best feature for database management for my customers. Database management is effective in Amazon RDS because it offers automated backups, high availability, read replicas, and support from multiple database engineers, while also providing security, monitoring and metrics, scalability. We are using snapshots and database migrations as well as performance optimization. The impact of Amazon RDS scalability and backup has been positive, with good vertical scaling, scale up and down, horizontal scaling, and storage scaling. The performance was good and availability helped with reducing downtime.

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Neeraj Sameer Allu

Founder at Tuft

Manages databases in serverless environments and easy to get started with

The main thing I didn't like about PlanetScale was that we couldn't run analytical queries on it. They bill based on the number of rows read, so even a simple count query could easily use up our allocated resources. Apart from that, I actually loved it. It's based on MySQL, so it doesn't have foreign key constraints or cascades. We have to delete manually or use an ORM. As it's based on MySQL, we can use log posters for complex queries, but it only supports MySQL. I feel like Postgres is more useful for custom or complex queries.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Being able to change the size of an RDS MySQL instance is amazing."

"Relational databases excel in extensive normalization, eliminating data redundancy and efficiently structuring tables which leads to a clear and efficient relationship between tables using primary keys."

"The solution’s scalability, usability, and availability are valuable to us."

"Encryption is the most valuable feature."

"The solution is good for on-premise deployments."

"Amazon RDS handles database backup mechanisms and patch management."

"The product's installation phase is easy."

"I use Amazon RDS to support scalability, with multi-AZ support being an essential aspect."

More Amazon RDS pros

"One feature I appreciate about PlanetScale is its ability to handle migrations and commands without the need to run them manually in the database."

"I like the solution's developer experience. When you deploy changes to the database in the portal, you can use different deployment strategies and see how things work. You can put changes into different branches, like deployment and staging. This is built into the product, allowing you to navigate changes through different branches."

"The database is accessible 24/7, ensuring my project runs smoothly without interruptions."

"The solution is beginner-friendly. Like any new platform, it can be a bit confusing at first. But after spending about an hour with it, you can get a clear idea of what everything is for. It's not very confusing; I think they've improved it recently."

"I recommend using PlanetScale as it provides ease of access and control over database changes using commands from the local terminal."

"The branching feature is also good for developer experience."

"I did not face any downtime when using the product."

Cons

"The solution could improve by adding a sandbox environment and more security."

"The Amazon RDS engine could provide features for additional databases, such as Db2. It could also provide support for other databases, such as NoSQL databases, DynamoDB, and Apache Cassandra. They could all stay under one hood."

"Migration to RDS using the default tools is very complicated."

"There are some use cases that might come up where we would want to understand the performance aspects better."

"A lot of the features are disabled by default. The solution should enable more features. I understand this could cause challenges to management for many clients using RDS, however."

"With my limited experience, I have noticed that documentation management could be improved. It could be better."

"The only thing that needs improvement would be the pricing of the solution."

"Some of the features will not be there. For example, some on-premises things we want to set up will not be supported there. There are some challenges that they are fixing."

More Amazon RDS cons

"The main thing I didn't like about PlanetScale was that we couldn't run analytical queries on it."

"We encountered some initial issues during the product deployment, which required me to search for solutions on forums."

"I am not sure, but I think recently, the tool removed the free version."

"I used PlanetScale for hobby projects, so my perspective differs from someone using it commercially. Unfortunately, they've removed the free tier in recent months and pivoted to a business-to-business model. This is sad for hobby developers like me because it's a great product, but I understand they have costs to cover."

"I would like PlanetScale to have a feature where the database can be accessed in the cloud with a link, allowing for a more user-friendly interface compared to the terminal."

"When I tried to integrate the solution with Firebase for authentication, I faced some interruptions. Also, when using it with Next.js and NextAuth.js for Google and social logins, I had some troubles."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Amazon RDS is not a very expensive solution."

"On a scale from one to ten, where ten is the most expensive, and one is the cheapest, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."

"In my case, MySQL is free, and if there are any costs, then it is much less than other solutions since all such things usually come bundled with the hardware."

"By using a combination of Reserve Instances and On-Demand pricing, you can reduce the cost."

"The product is expensive."

"AWS is becoming pretty expensive because cheap or absolutely free services have become paid services. Amazon RDS is not an expensive product, but Amazon's ecosystem is becoming increasingly expensive."

"The cost is manageable because you can see the expense associated with each instance and utilize tools for tagging and cost control."

"It is less expensive than SQL Server. We pay based on the usage on a monthly basis."

More Amazon RDS pricing and cost advice

"Last time, when I wanted to use the tool in a project, I could see it was only paid, so I didn't use the service."

"The solution is expensive for beginners. That's why I wasn't motivated to use it more. But they were already providing many features for free for beginners, which was great."

"I am currently using the product's free version, which has been sufficient for my portfolio project."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Healthcare Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	16
Large Enterprise	22

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon RDS?

The product's installation phase is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon RDS?

The pricing for Amazon RDS is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon RDS?

Currently, I cannot think of any major improvements. Perhaps more platforms in terms of database engine versions would be beneficial. Right now, Amazon RDS supports MySQL and PostgreSQL, but there ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PlanetScale?

I am currently using the product's free version, which has been sufficient for my portfolio project. The paid version ranges from $39 to $1,000, depending on the features and scale required.

See all answers

What needs improvement with PlanetScale?

I would like PlanetScale to have a feature where the database can be accessed in the cloud with a link, allowing for a more user-friendly interface compared to the terminal. This would make it easi...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for PlanetScale?

I have used PlanetScale as it is an advanced version of MySQL. It functions as a platform where MySQL is live, similar to AWS. I use PlanetScale to store data in a live environment where queries ca...

See all answers

Comparisons

MongoDB Atlas vs Amazon RDS

Compared 17% of the time

Google Cloud SQL vs Amazon RDS

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Amazon RDS

Compared 11% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Amazon RDS

Compared 8% of the time

Yugabyte Cloud vs Amazon RDS

Compared 7% of the time

More Amazon RDS Competitors

Amazon Aurora Serverless vs PlanetScale

Compared 75% of the time

Citus Data vs PlanetScale

Compared 17% of the time

SQL Server vs PlanetScale

Compared 7% of the time

More PlanetScale Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS

March 2026

Download Amazon RDS product report

Buyer's Guide

Relational Databases Tools

March 2026

Download PlanetScale product report

Also Known As

RDS

No data available

Overview

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is a web service that makes it easier to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient, resizeable capacity for an industry-standard relational database and manages common database administration tasks.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

PlanetScale offers seamless database management with features tailored for modern development environments, enabling enhanced project operations through efficient integration and ease of use.

PlanetScale is designed to support modern developer workflows through features like automated connection pooling and constant availability, making it ideal for serverless applications. Its integration with tools like GitHub and Prisma enhances the developer experience, allowing fast setup and effortless database interactions. However, users note challenges with analytical queries due to row-based billing and the absence of foreign key constraints. Integration with platforms such as Firebase and Next.js presents additional hurdles. Recent changes, such as the removal of the free tier, have impacted adoption by hobby developers, highlighting a need for more accessible pricing plans.

What are the most important features of PlanetScale?

Automated Connection Pooling: Optimizes database connections for serverless environments.
Constant Availability: Ensures uninterrupted operations and workflow efficiency.
Developer-Friendly: Integrates seamlessly with GitHub and Prisma for enhanced project management.
Quick Setup: Simplifies setup processes in corporate environments, allowing immediate use.

What benefits should users consider when evaluating PlanetScale?

Uninterrupted Project Operations: Facilitates constant availability for high-performance applications.
Enhanced Developer Experience: Offers intuitive integrations and project management capabilities.
Ease of Integration: Works well with popular tools like Prisma and MySQL for efficient workflows.

PlanetScale finds significant use in hosting databases for portfolios, company websites, and academic projects. Its compatibility with Prisma facilitates seamless MySQL database management online. Users leverage its capabilities for analytical queries and manage data environments effectively. Teams value the platform for specialized tasks such as URL shortening and social media automation, which are crucial in rapidly evolving digital industries.

PlanetScale

Sample Customers

Edmodo

Block, Intercom, Convex, MyFitnessPal

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS vs. PlanetScale

March 2026

Free Report: Amazon RDS vs. PlanetScale

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